Washing machine having a liquid balancing means



Oct. 30, 1962 A. E. BURKALL 3,060,713

WASHING MACHINE HAVING A LIQUID BALANCING MEANS Filed Nov. 4, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORY dh/z'n Bar/(41 Oct. 30, 1962 A. E. BURKALL WASHING MACHINE HAVING A LIQUID BALANCING MEANS Filed NOV. 4, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 411/272 5 Bur/(all BY I uflu/ A TTORNI; YS

Oct. 30, 1962 A. E. BURKALL WASHING MACHINE HAVING A LIQUID BALANCING MEANS Filed Nov. 4, 1960 4 SheetsSheet 3 Oct. 30, 1962 A. E. BURKALL WASHING MACHINE HAVING A LIQUID BALANCING MEANS Filed NOV. 4, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

W h A; ORNE YS Efifihjll Patented Oct. 30, 1962 hce 3,060,713 WASHING MAQIHN'E HAVWG A LIQUID BALANCING MEANS Alvin E. Burkall, St. Joseph, Mich, assignor to Whirlpool Corporation, St. Joseph, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 67,263 10 Claims. (Ci. 6824) The present invention relates to laundry methods and apparatus and more specifically, to a method and apparatus wherein a horizontal or substantially horizontal axis type drum is dynamically balanced during high speed spinning with laundry liquid, the quantity of laundry liquid for the washing and rinsing operations and for the balancing operation being regulated automatically by a multiple water level control system.

A particularly advantageous solution of the problem of balancing has been by way of a so-called water or fluid balance type machine. Such a machine employs a plurality of liquid balance pockets disposed on the periphery of the rotating drum, and arranged to receive injections of laundry liquid therein as a function of the amount and location of the unbalance so that as these liquid receiving pockets are selectively filled with the liquid, a condition of dynamic balance is more nearly approached.

The present invention is concerned with an improved water level control system for a machine having a type of balancing system wherein controlled injections of laundry liquid used in the machine are injected into liquid balancing pockets located along the periphery of the drum.

The laundry machine of the present invention employs a reservoir of laundry liquid contained in the sump of the machine for balancing purposes. This system is preferable to a system involving the circulation of tap water by electrically controlled solenoids because domestic water pressures vary over a considerable range, thus making it almost impossible to have a successful balance system using tap water. With the system of the present invention, however, the pressures at the nozzle which feeds the balancing means are rendered completely independent of a domestic water supply since there is provided a closed internal hydraulic circuit through which liquid is driven by a pump at pump pressures that are almost identical on mass produced machines.

When using the sump as the reservoir for balancing water, it is important that enough water be maintained in the sump to allow for the complete balancing of the unsymmetrical loads in the spinning cylinder, and also that enough water be provided in the sump for proper washing action. One of the principal features of the present invention resides in providing such a sump with liquid level control means which selectively injects water from the sump into the balancing means located on the periphery of the drum, and selectively drains liquid from the sump to control the liquid level in the sump at the proper water level.

.An object of the present invention is to provide an improved laundry machine including a balancing means which is fed from a sump on the machine wherein the liquid level is carefully controlled.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved balancing system for horizontal axis type laundry machines including a control system which regulates the amount of water to provide sufiicient water for complete balancing, and still provides enough Water for proper washing action.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fluid control means for selectively directing laundry liquid from a sump into a balancing means, or to a drain, or to the spray nozzle for application to the articles being washed during the wash and rinse portions of the cycle.

A further description of the present invention will be made in conjunction with the attached sheets of drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation of the laundry machine employing the improvements of the present invention, with portions thereof broken away to illustrate the structure more clearly;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View of the assembly of FIGURE 1, again with portions broken away to illustrate the interior structure more completely;

FIGURE 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating the electrical control circuit for the machine of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a timing diagram illustrating the manner in which the sequences are programmed by the electrical control system during the operation of the machine; and

FIGURE 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of the improved valve system which is employed in the machine of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings:

In FIGURE 1, reference numeral 1% indicates generally a laundry machine embodying the principles of the present invention. The machine 10 includes an outer cabinet 11 supported on legs 12.

Within the cabinet 11 is a tank or tub 13 within which a rotatable, perforate cylinder 14, sometimes referred to as a drum or basket, is arranged to rotate. An access door 16 is provided on the front of the machine to permit loading of the cylinder with the articles to be washed. A spray nozzle 17 directs a stream of laundry liquid across the interior of the cylinder 14 to wet the materials contained within the rotatable drum during the washing and rinsing cycles. The machine of the present invention embodies a balancing system for effecting dynamic balance of the drum whenever an unbalanced load results in a vibration detected by a sensing means. The specific details of the balancing apparatus and the sensing means are not necessary to a perfect understanding of the present invention. It will be understood that the drum carries a plurality of circumferentially spaced liquid receiving pockets 22a associated with balance liquid receiving segments 22b and a laundry liquid applying means constituting, for example, a stationary nozzle 22 combined with a pivoting deflector 22c and responsive to the unbalance condition in the drum 14 to inject liquid into an appropriate pocket or pockets 22a to balance the drum dynamically.

In accordance with this invention an improved plumbing system is provided for such a machine. The plumbing system is depicted in simple schematic form in FIG- URE 5. Thus, a pump 26 is provided to provide a suction on the laundry liquid in the sump. The pump is shown as including a casing 26a formed with an inlet 26b and an outlet 260.

The pump 26 forms part of an internal hydraulic circuit which is completely independent of the domestic water supply. Thus the inlet 26b of the pump 26 may be connected to the sump of the machine by a conduit 78 and drives a stream of pressurized fluid through a conduit 79 connected to the outlet 260 at one end and connected at its other end to a solenoid controlled valve shown generally at 28.

A solenoid operated two-way valve shown generally at 19 has two separate outlet conduits connected thereto as at 18 and 21 and is connected in circuit with the valve 23 by a conduit 83. Valve 19 selectively directs the liquid either to the hose 18 which feeds spray nozzle 17 or to the hose or conduit 21 which feeds the balance nozzle 22.

The valve 28 may also conveniently comprise a twoway valve to which a drain outlet 29 is connected to the two-way valve 28 by means of conduit 84 in order to 'maintain the level of water within the machine at the proper height where sufiicient water is present forbalancing purposes, without raising the level of the water in the machine sufiiciently high to interfere with the high speed rotation. of the drum 14. 7

Water from any suitable source is introduced through a water inlet hose 31 and its temperature is controlled by means of a mixing valve 32. The hose 31 communicates with a vacuum break 32:: and the latter supplies water to the interior of the drum througha hose 3'3. Mixing valve 32 is controlled by a solenoid 63. a As best seen in FIGURE 2, the rotatable drum 14 is journalled for rotation in a bearing assembly generally indicated at numeral 34 and is driven by a pulley 36 driven from a belt (not shown) connected to the drive motor 66 (not shown) through a transmission or speed changer of any desired construction.

In accordance with the present invention, the base of the tank 13 is provided with a sump 38 which collects laundry liquid passed through the perforate rotating drum 14. The sump assembly includes an air pressure dome 39 which is in fluid communication with an air hose 41 leading to a pair of pressure responsive switches consisting of a high level pressure switch 42 and a low level pressure switch 43. As indicated in FIGURE 2, these two switches are connected in sequence by a connecting hose 44.

The two pressure sensitive switches 42 and 43 are actuated by the varying pressure of the gas trapped within the air pressure dome 39 as the liquid level in the sump rises and falls.

The various levels at which the pressure sensitive switches '42 and 43 operate are indicated by therdashed lines in FIGURE 1. At the level indicated at reference numeral 46, the low level pressure switch 43 opens upon removal of fluid from sump 38, leaving a reserve of liquid in the sump for the balancing operation. At the level indicated at reference numeral 47, the high level pressure switch 42 moves from its full to empty position, upon removal of fluid from sump 38. At the level indicated. at reference numeral 48, the low level pressure switch closes upon a rising water level. It will be noted that at this level, the body of water within the sump 38 is still below the periphery of the rotating drum 14 so that it does not interfere with the normal high speed rotation of the drum. Thehigh level pressure switch 42 moves from its empty to its full position upon filling at the uppermost level indicated at reference numeral 49 in FIGURE 1 and as noted, this level is above the lower periphery of the drum 14. Of course, devices other than the pressure switches 42 and 43 could also be used to control the water levels 46, 47, 48 and 49.

Turning now to the circuit diagram of FIGURE 3, it will be seen that power is. supplied to the system at input terminals 51 and 52. A door switch 53 is included in the form of an interlock to cut off power to the circuits when the access door to the machine is open.

Thehigh level pressure switch 42 includes a switch arm 54 which is operable between an empty position where it contacts a contact 56 and a full position in which it contacts a contact 57. The low level pressure switch 43 includes an arm 58 which is movable into and out of engageinent with a contact 59 depending upon the level of the water contained within the sump 38.

The remaining contacts shown in the circuit diagram of FIGURE 3 are under the control of a timer motor 61 of the conventional variety in which the motor drive shaft contains a series of cams engaging cam operated switches having contacts which make and break at predetermined time intervals to carry out the programming schedule of across the various branches of the circuit at all times except when the timer motor has completed its complete cycle, and the entire machine is completely shut off.

In the position of the high level pressure switch 42- shown in FIGURE 3 (empty), a water inlet solenoid 63 of mixing valve 32 is energized through a contact 64 controlled by the operation of the timer motor 61. At this time, a drive motor 66 is also energized through a contact 67 also under the control of the timer motor 61.

The Washing machine is arranged for two different speeds of spinning, these speeds being controlled by a low speed spin clutch solenoid 68 which is under the control of the timer contact 69 and the high level pressure switch 42, and a high speed spin clutch solenoid 71 which is under the control of the timer contact 72.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the low level pressure switch 43 is controlled by a timer contact 73 and is in electrical series relationship with the operating solenoid 81 of the two-way valve 28. It is also in parallel circuit relationship with a timer contact 74 which when closed bypasses the low level pressure switch 43. A contact 76 controlled by the operation of a timer motor 61 is also provided to serve as a high level pressure switch by-pass. The solenoid 86 of the two-way valve 19 is also. connected across the line and its operation is governed by the operation of a timer contact 77..

The two-way valve system as mentioned previously is illustrated in FIGURE 5 of the drawings. A discharge conduit 78 communicating with the sump 38 feeds the pump 26 whose discharge is directed through a conduit 79 into the two-way valve 28. The pump 26 is directly connected to thedrive motor 66 (not shown) and operates whenever the drive motor is energized.

. The two-way valve 28 includes a solenoid 81 which is controlled by the energization of the timer contact 74. As illustrated, the two-way valve 28 has a pivotal valve element 82 controlled by the solenoid 81 which selectively directs the discharge from the pump 79 to a hose 83 connected to the input of the two-way valve 19, or to a drain outlet 29 through a conduit 84. In the condition of the assembly shown in FIGURE 5 (solenoid 31 deenergized), the discharge from the sump passes throughthe conduit 83 and enters the two-way'valve 19. The latter also has a solenoid 86 energized by the timer contact 77 and operating to pivot a valve element 87 to direct the liquid either to the hose 21 which feeds the balancing arrangement, or to the hose 18 which feeds the spray nozzle 17. When the solenoid 81 of the two-way valve 28 is energized, all of the water being withdrawn from the sump is discharged directly to the drain outlet 29 through the conduit 84. When the solenoid 81 of the two-way valve 28 is deenergized and the solenoid 86 of the two-way valve 19 is energized, the water that is being withdrawn from the sump will be pumped to the spray nozzle 17 at which point it is directed into the interior of the cylinder for washing and rinsing purposes.

Returning now to the circuit diagram and the programming schedule illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, it will be seen that the first portion of the complete cycle consists of a normal washing cycle in which water is introduced through the water inlet solenoid 63 until the arm 54 of the high level pressure switch 42 moves from its empty contact 56 to its full contact 57 when the water level in sump 38 reaches the level. indicated by the line 49 in FIGURE. 1, the drive motor 66 is energized through the timer contactr67, and the spray nozzle 17 is fed with water by the energization of the solenoid 86 associated with the two-way valve 19. After about a 10 minute washing cycle, the machine is drained by energizing the timer contact 74 through timer contact 76 which in turn energizesthe solenoid 81 on the two-way valve 28, thereby passing the water through the discharge conduit 84 to the drain outlet 29. The low speed spin solenoid 68 is energized when the arm 54 of high level pressure switch 42 moves from the ffull position contact 57 to its empty position contact 56 at the water level indicated by the line 47 in FIGURE 1 through timer contact 69 for about a one minute interval.

The next cycle portion, consisting of a rinse cycle, involves terminating the draining by deenergizing the timer contact 74 and introducing more water through energization of the contact 64 thereby energizing the solenoid 63. This rinse is followed by a second drain. Then a second rinse cycle is used, followed by a third drain. These rinse and drain cycle portions use the same electrical circuits as in the wash and first drain cycles.

The third rinse cycle, occurring during minutes 19 and 20 is followed by a tumbling operation at which time the timer contact 73 is energized. Since at this time there will be water in the sump 38 corresponding to the upper level line 49 indicated in FIGURE 1, the solenoid 81 of two-way valve 28 will be energized since at this time the low level pressure switch 43 will be closed. As the water is pumped out of the sump, the level of the water in the sump will drop until the low level mark indicated by reference numeral 46 in FIGURE 1 is reached. At this point, the low level pressure switch 43 opens to deenergize the solenoid 81 of two-way valve 28 and the draining stops.

As the machine is accelerated from its tumbling speed to its low spin speed (minute 22), and then to its high spin speed (minute 23), the cylinder speed increases and water is extracted from the load and drains into the sump. During this interval, if an unbalanced load appears in the cylinder, the water balance system, which is continuously in operation since both solenoids of the two-way valves 19 and 28 are deenergized, operates to correct the unbalanced load. If the water is being extracted from the load faster than it is being used for balancing purposes, the water level in the sump will increase until the level indicated by reference numeral 48 in FIGURE 1 is reached, at which time the low level pressure switch 43 recloses to reenergize the solenoid 81 of two-way valve 28. The balancing function is thereby interrupted for a very short period of time until enough water is drained out of the sump 38 to allow the low level pressure switch 43 to reopen. This procedure is continued throughout the high spin speed portion of the cycle and serves to assure that there will always be enough water present in the sump for balancing purposes without allowing the Water in the sump to attain a level whereby it would come in contact with the spinning cylinder 14 which, of course, cannot be allowed while the drum 14 is spinning.

If during the high spin speed portion of the complete cycle an unbalance correction for the drum 14 is not needed, the liquid merely is circulated from the sump 38 by the pump 26 through two-way valves 28 and 19 to balance nozzle 22 where it is deflected back into the sump 38 by the deflector 22c.

At the end of the high spin speed operation, the machine returns to tumble speed and the solenoid 81 of two-way valve 28 is energized through the timer contact 74 to allow both the balancing tank and the machine sump to be completely drained.

It should be recognized that the particular structure shown in the drawings is purely exemplary and that many modifications can be made to the described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a machine including a rotary drum assembly and liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said rotary drum assembly during high speed rotation thereof, the improvements comprising a housing in said machine encompassing said drum assembly and having a sump therein for the collection of liquid, liquid level control means associated with said sump and arranged to control the level of liquid contained therein, and means controlled by said liquid level control means for discharging a portion of the liquid contents of said sump to said balancing means during high speed rotation of such rotary drum assembly.

2. In a machine including a housing, a rotary cylinder within said housing, and liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said cylinder during high speed rotation thereof, the improvements comprising means in said housing defining a sump for collecting liquid therein, liquid level control means responsive to the liquid level in said sump, said liquid level control means being arranged to be actuated to one position when the liquid level in said sump drops to a predetermined level therein and to another position when the liquid level in said sump rises to a level higher than the first named level, but still below said cylinder, and means actuated by the operation of said liquid level control means for selectively discharging liquid from said sump to either said balancing means or from said machine.

3. In a machine including a housing, a rotary cylinder within said housing, and liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said cylinder during high speed rotation thereof, the improvements comprising a sump in said housing for collecting liquid therein, a first liquid level control means associated with said sump and movable from a first position to a second position by the level of liquid in said sump, said first position being achieved when the liquid level is high enough to contact said cylinder, and said second position being achieved after said liquid level has dropped out of contact with said cylinder, a second liquid level control means movable from a first position to a second position by the level of liquid in said sump, both positions of said second liquid level control means being achieved while the level of liquid in said sump is out of contact with said cylinder, means actuated by said first liquid level control means in its second position to control the introduction of liquid into said machine, and means actuated by the operation of said second liquid level control means to selectively discharge liquid from said sump to either said balancing means or from said machine.

4. In a machine including a housing, a rotary cylinder within said housing, and liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said cylinder during high speed rotation thereof, the improvements comprising means in said housing defining a sump for collecting liquid therein, a closed end bafiie in said sump in liquid communication with the liquid in said sump whereby liquid from said sump compresses air trapped within said bafiie as the liquid level in said sump rises, pressure sensing means responsive to the air pressure developed in said baflie, said pressure sensing means being arranged to be actuated to one position when the liquid level in said sump drops to a predetermined level in said sump and to a second position when the liquid level in said sump rises to a level higher than the first named level, but still below said cylinder, and means actuated by the operation of said pressure sensing means to selectively discharge liquid from said sump to either said balancing means or from said machine.

5. In a machine including a housing, a rotary cylinder within said housing, a spray means for directing liquid spray into said cylinder, and liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said cylinder during high speed rotation thereof, the improvements comprising means in said housing defining a sump for collecting liquid therein, a pump having an inlet connected to and receiving the discharge from said sump, first and second two-way valves, said pump having an outlet connected to said first two-way valve, said first two-way valve selectively directing the discharge of said pump to either drain or to said second two'way valve, said second two-way valve being arranged to direct liquid selectively to either said spray means or to said balancing means.

6. In a machine having a housing, a rotary cylinder in said housing, a spray means for directing liquid spray in said cylinder, and liquid balancing meansassociated with said cylinder, the improvements comprising a sump in said housing for collecting liquid, a pump having an inlet connected to and receiving the discharge of said sump, said pinnp having an outlet, control means in said outlet controlling the flow of discharge from said pump, a two-way valve connected to said outlet and receiving the discharge of said pump and directing said discharge selectively to either said spray means or to said balancing means, and means responsive to the level of liquid in said sump to operate said control means to control the flow of discharge to said two-way valve.

7. In a machine having a housing, a rotary cylinder in said housing, nozzle means for directing a stream of liquid into the interior of said cylinder, and liquid balancing means associated with said cylinder, the improvements comprising a sump in said housing for collecting liquid, a pump having an inlet connected to said sump, liquid level control means responsive to the liquid level in said sump, said liquid level control means being actuated to i one position when the liquid level in said sump drops to a predetermined'level and to another position when the liquid level in said sump rises to a level higher than the first named level but still below said cylinder, a first twoway valve and a second two-way valve, said first twoway valve being actuated in response to said liquid level control means and being connected to said pump to selectively direct the discharge of said pump to either said second two-Way valve or to drain, said second two-Way valve being arranged to selectively direct the liquid to either said nozzle means or to said balancing means.

8. In a washing machine comprising,

a housing,

a rotatable drum positioned in said housing for receiving articles to be washed during a washing cycle and centrifugally dried during an extraction cycle,

liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said drum during said extraction cycle,

a liquid receiving sump in said housing,

means for supplying liquid from said sump to said liquid balancing means, i

liquid'supply means for said housing by means of which said sump receives a supply of liquid, an electrically operated valve controlling said liquid supply,

a firstliquid level control means controlling the level of said liquidin saidsump for thewashing of said articles in said drum duringrsaid washing cycle and controlling the energization of said electrically operated valve, a

and a second liquid level control means level of liquid in said sump during cycle, r

whereby said sump operates as abalancing-fluidrreservo1r.

9. In a laundry extractor having a housing,

a rotatable drum positioned Within said housing for receiving wet articles to be centrifugally extracted during a centrifuging operation,

liquid balancing means for dynamically balancing said drum during high speed rotation thereof,

a sump within said housing to collect extracted liquid from the wet articles,

means for supplying extracted, liquid from the sump to said liquid balancing means,

and drainage control means for said sump including first and a second liquid level sensing means responsive to differentlevels in the sump to retain an opti mum quantity of liquid in said sump, the sump functions as a balancing liquid rescontrolling the said extraction whereby ervoir.

10. In a machine having a housing, a rotary cylinder in said housing, and liquid balancing means associated with said cylinder, the improvements comprising a sump in said housing for collecting liquid, a pump having an inlet connected'to said sump and receiving the discharge of said sump, said pump having an outlet, a two-way valve having an inlet connected to said pump outlet, a first outlet from said two-way valve connected to a drain, a second outlet from said two-way valve connected to said liquid balancing means, control means for said twoway valve, and means responsive to the level of liquid in said sump to selectively operate said control means to control the flow of discharge from said pump to said first or second two-way valve outlets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,534,267 Kahn Dec. 19, 1950 2 ,534,269 Kahn et a1 Dec. 19, 1950 

